Dishing on Korean Food #1 - Sundaeguk

Blood. Sausage. Do those two words put together send you running? Say it ain't so. If you're a meat eater, you're already devouring animal flesh so you're in deep as it is. Philosophically, isn't it essential to make use of the whole beast if you've contributed to its demise? But if it's a texture or taste thing, I get it, but don't let the fact that something contains "blood" scare you off. Korean blood sausage soup aka sundaeguk is one of the best Korean foods and one that is almost impossibly hard to find a sating version of outside of Korea.

Sundaeguk (also known as sundaegukbap) is a name made up of three essential parts. Sundae (pronounced soon-dae) is blood sausage. Some kinds contain more cellophane noodles as filling (chapssal-sundae) and another type is meatier (byeongcheon-sundae). "Guk" is one of the many Korean terms for "soup". Korea has so many soup renditions that a friend of mine jokingly titled his year in Korea, "The Year of Soup". "Bap" stands for rice which you'll likely be served on the side of your sundaeguk. You should dump all the rice into your soup so it absorbs the soup and swells, making an undeniable one bowl meal.

So what does sundae taste like? It'll likely taste quite rich (but not as much as a French boudin noir) ameliorated due to the noodle content (and sometimes also the presence of vegetables). It'll be slightly sweet and is best eaten after giving time to let off a little steam after being rested from its cauldron of a broth. Put a couple of pieces in your empty rice bowl to cool off and maybe dip it in the supplied ssamjang or soybean paste (which is also excellent with raw onion, garlic, or spicy green pepper: three accoutrement that come with every bowl of sundaeguk worth its salt. )To up the saltiness of your soup and to add some seaside twang, you'll likely have either a dish or a small metal container of saeujeot (fermented shrimp) that you can and very much should spoon into your soup.

Your sundaeguk may or may not already have gochujang (spicy red pepper paste) added. If not and you want a decently spicy experience, plop in one spoonful. Two spoonfuls will draw gasps from the certainly onlooking restaurant attendants (Korean middle-aged women) but your tongue will likely be alright if you like spicy food. Also dwelling in your bowl are little flecks of brown which are ddeulkae or wild sesame seed. They give the soup a nice gosohae undertone. You'll hear Koreans refer to a lot of refreshingly grainy tastes as gosohae, things like brown rice tea or a passionate slurp of noodles. There might even be some noodles to throw into your bowl already provided.

Lastly, if you're not down with eating other random intestines (and why wouldn't you be...you're eating blood sausage!), you should ask for sundae-mahn or sundae-only. If not, your soup will likely come with an assortment of awesome pig offal like ear, lung, liver, heart, etc. If you love textures, all these nasty bits will be an absolute playground for you.

The final piece of advice I can offer is to order a coke. The carbonation and sweetness marries wonderfully with the meaty funk and spice of the soup. So there ya go, one of my favorite ever Korean food, available all over the peninsula and well-worth your intrepidness. Meokja!